Pittsford officials: Yes, iconic tree did need to come down

In this image provided by Christopher J. Luley (president/pathologist at Urban Forest Diagnostics), decayed parts of Pittsford's copper beech tree, closer to its center, are set off by red lines.(Photo11: Provided photo)

On Tuesday, Pittsford began taking down an iconic copper beech tree that had stood on State Street near Main Street for nearly 200 years. The reason: Its root system had been compromised and base “hollowed out” by a nasty fungus called Kretzschmaria deusta, explained Town Supervisor Bill Smith.

By Wednesday, pictures of what seemed to be solid, healthy-looking sections of tree trunk began appearing on social media — along with pointed questions about whether the tree actually was diseased and needed to be removed.

But looks — especially to the untrained eye — can be deceiving, said Jessica Neal, foreperson for Pittsford’s Parks Department and the town employee most closely involved with monitoring the landmark hardwood’s health over the years. Plus, she said, “We know how much the tree means to people, and we certainly wouldn’t cut it down for no reason.”

The well-being of the tree (whose likeness appears on the town logo) initially was questioned in 2011. A Parks Department worker noted a dark, wet-looking spot on the trunk. It turned out to be the fungus phytophthora. “That started the ball rolling” on taking a deeper look at things, Neal said. Arborists were called in: Walter Nelson from Cornell Cooperative Extension of Monroe County, who referred the town to Christopher J. Luley, president and pathologist at Urban Forest Diagnostics, based in Naples, Ontario County, she said.

Luley’s subsequent studies of the tree’s interior, via what is called Resistograph drilling (which measures the wood’s resistance and strength) and tomography (which captures an image of decay inside the tree), ultimately revealed the Kretzschmaria deusta, which is both fast-spreading and untreatable.

In 2015, a part of the tree broke off and caved in the roof of an unoccupied, parked car. Even then, the town continued to monitor the tree and sought a second opinion about its status. A certified arborist from Genesee Tree Services confirmed Luley’s original diagnosis. But Pittsford continued its surveillance of the tree through early 2018 before resorting to its removal.

“If there was any way to save this tree, I would have done it,” Smith said. He added that in describing the tree as “hollowed out,” he didn’t mean it was literally hollow but that significant portions of its interior base had been broken down by the fungus “and had no strength.” (Neal called the diseased portions "brittle" and said they lacked "load-holding capability.")

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“This would not have been a good situation for a very large tree with a very large, exposed crown in a high-target location,” Luley stated in an email to Neal. (Luley has written articles about trees afflicted by Kretzschmaria deusta, including ones that have snapped off at the base.)

“I was sick to my stomach” that the tree had to be removed, Neal said, “and angry that people think we were careless and reckless with it.”